


Unbreak My Heart

by annelea



Series: From One Door To Another [4]
Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-04
Updated: 2017-05-04
Packaged: 2018-10-28 04:29:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10823778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annelea/pseuds/annelea
Summary: "You promised me a lot of things," she reminded, trying to stabilize her voice at the very least.If he could have shrugged, he would have.  "I lied.  I'm sorry, Sakura."She felt the life draining from him more and more.  Sakura focused her efforts on his heart, lungs, and brain.  Well, she foucsed on what she could of his brain.  "Don't you leave me!  Don't you fucking leave me!"The start of a smile crept over his face, then paused.Blood poured like a fountain from his nose, pulsing, then gushing out.





	1. Ugly or Not?

Kakashi leaned back into his favored shade tree beside Naruto.  For now, they'd all decided to do one on one sparring matches.  He had a few small cuts from where Sai's blade had nicked him.  If it wasn't a spar, the blade would have been coated in poison.  Kakashi was glad Sai kept two spare, untainted swords for days like this.  It helped keep him and Yamato on top of their skills with the blades, and prevented a delayed death over a small cut.  
  
Right now, Yamato was taking his turn against Sasuke.  It was the first time in a couple months since they'd seen the last Uchiha, and all of them would take their turn against him at some point today.  
  
"What's it like?"  
  
"Hmm?" Kakashi turned to the blond beside him.  "What's what like?"  
  
"I can at least go out with Hinata on actual dates."  
  
"Oh," he looked down at his lap.  "It's hard sometimes.  Sometimes it's wonderful.  Mostly, it's just life as usual.  I only stay with her a couple nights a week."  
  
"That's a bull shit marriage," Naruto grunted.  "You shouldn't have married her.  You shouldn't be having a kid with her yet, either."  
  
Kakashi leveled a glare at the younger man.  "She was pregnant when we got married... by Sasuke."  
  
Naruto gasped and looked back at the torn up field.  "But...?"  
  
"I already loved her, but she was still torn between us.  Things happened, she made her choices.  She misscarried a couple weeks after we were married.  Four months later, and it's my kid growing."

Ah, well, that explained why Sasuke thought she would be showing far more last night.  It explained part of why Sakura was nice to him, but told him to leave.  She didn't tell him about his child.  
  
"Why would you stick with her if she cheated on you?"  
  
"Is it cheating when you're not even having sex yet?   They had a fight, and he left two months before I proposed to her.  We were never really dating to start with."  
  
"So, you married her because...?"  
  
"Because I love her.  Because, when I retire, I want to spend the rest of my days beside her.  What does it matter if we're married now or then?"  
  
"But the first kid?" Naruto insisted.

"I would have no shame in raising Sasuke's child.  The council wants him to procreate as much as they want me to."

"I wonder how much longer before the women show up," Sai commented, loosing interest in the match before them.  Sasuke was taking it quite easy on Yamato, and, well, Yamato wasn't really seeming to get into things either.  The two were just going through the motions.  
  
"Speak of the devil, and she shall appear," a decidely feminine voice spoke behind him.  
  
Sai turned to the slap of Ino's flat palm on his cheek.  "Good morning."  
  
"Which one of you made Hinata-chan miss her appointment this morning?" Ino demanded.  "I would have been up earlier and gotten them up, too.  We all would have been just fine.  I know it was a sneaky gen-jutsu.  My dreams were too good to be normal!"  
  
"Sasuke-san thought you all deserved a good night's rest," Sai shrugged.  "Sasuke-san waited for you to fall asleep and then placed a light genjutsu on you and Hinata-chan.  That is all."  
  
"And what about me?" Sakura spoke up, arms crossed under her breasts.  
  
"Sakura-chan, you needed to sleep off the bad evening more than anyone," Naruto tried to comfort her.  "If it helps any, it was Kakashi's job to make you sleep better, not Sasuke's."  
  
"Well, we're all here now," Sakura shrugged him off.  She would deal with Kakashi later.  "So, who's going to spar with me?"  
  
"No one!" Naruto shouted before anyone could vollunteer.  "I'll knock everyone down that wants to spar with you.  Get it?  I told you yesterday you have to stop."  
  
"I'm still capable!"

"You're seven months pregnant!" Naruto threw back at her.

For the first time in many years, Kakashi grabbed her by the arm in anger.  Before anyone could say anything, he had them teleported back to her bedroom and shoved her onto the bed.  Sakura shoved herself back up and punched him in the chest.  
  
"Stop letting Naruto be so damn protective!  It's not his kid!  As long as I can protect it in a regular spar, I intend to continue sparring."  
  
"Listen to me," Kakashi grabbed her fists, taking the physical fight right out of her.  Pressing her hands to his chest with one of his, he pulled down his mask to kiss her forehead.  "Naruto brought up a good point.  How are you going to know when you can't protect it anymore?  How can you be sure your protection won't just drop in the middle of a spar, right when it means the most?"  
  
Sakura had no answer for that.  
  
"I haven't liked you fighting at all these past few weeks.  I let it slide because it was you, our best medic.  But, you're a field combat medic and a child psychologist.  You are not an OB/GYN.  You specialize in nothing reproductive.  I'd hoped that delaying you girls today would promt you all to have a day together, away from anything hard on the body.  I just wanted you to have a fun, relaxing girls' day.  Let us guys handle the drama for once."

She sat back down on the bed, angry now with herself.  She couldn't look him in the eyes; he'd made valid points.  
  
"Come here," he spoke softly, lifting her chin to gently press his lips to hers.  
  
Sakura snaked her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a deeper kiss.  She didn't get to kiss him nearly enough.  The waiting was like a dance for them.

All day on Mondays they would interact with friends, never allowing themselves more than to gently bump into one another in the tight kitchen when getting food or drinks after sparring.  When they sparred, it looked vicious, but it was just another way to get warmed up for the evening, once everyone was gone.  There wasn't a room in the place they hadn't made love in, the two person recliner being a favored spot.  It always stayed covered with a fresh sheet the next day to hide the evidence from visitors.  Tuesday morning saw more sex in the bed, in the shower, and, sometimes, in the kitchen.  Kakashi would go back to his little appartment in another part of town that night.  Sometimes she would go with him, but they'd always sleep that night.  Wednesday morning found them both back at work, living separate lives again until Sunday evening, usually after dinner taken separately, when they would get back together again in her bed.

If anybody showed up while they were together, she would injure him slightly, just enough to call him a cry-baby in front of the intruder and heal him up again.  The excuse was wearing thin on their friends, she knew, but what else could prompt his frequent visits that didn't involve just wanting to be around her?  What else could she tell them?  The first time her parents dropped in on a Monday evening while she and Kakashi were in bed early, just being together, she lied and told them one of his dog's newborn puppies had died and he needed a shoulder to cry on.  That was an excuse she couldn't repeat.

Now that their secret was out among close friends, she didn't worry about making excuses and lies anymore.  They would have more privacy, she hoped, as people might actually start knocking...  
  
"You really are starting to show," Kakashi hummed against her lips.  
  
"No need to remind me that I'm getting fat," Sakura groused.  
  
"Baby belly is not fat belly," he corrected, flicking her nose lightly.  "Being pregnant makes you that much more sexy."

"No, it doesn't," she sniffed.  
  
He pushed her back onto the bed and roughly pulled up her shirt to start kissing her stomach.  "Oh" kiss "so" kiss" beautiful" kiss.  
  
"Stop!  Stop!" she giggled, trying to put her shirt back down.  "I'm ugly."  
  
"Say it again and I'll bite you!" he warned.  
  
"Sai agrees.  I'm ugly." she tested.  
  
Kakashi pinned her wrists over her head, leaned over her and nipped at her throat.  "Tell me what's ugly about you."  
  
This was a game they played every so often.  She would call herself ugly, and name the ugliest parts she could think of, and he would kiss them all and tell her why they were beautiful instead.  "My forehead is huge."

He kissed the seal on her forehead, "More room to store chakra for this."  
  
"My hands are scarred."  
  
"Proof of a hard worker."  
  
"My thighs are thick."  
  
"Because they are strong."  
  
"My chest is small."  
  
"More than a handful is a waste... besides... they've grown."

"My belly has, too."  
  
"It's just going to be more attractive as it grows."

Sakura smiled and hummed as he nuzzled back into her cheek, laying down beside her.  He kept pushing his nose into her cheek until she turned her face to accept another kiss.

Kakashi felt her hand against his bare stomach, slid up under his shirt to play at the muscle lines and fine hairs.  She loved touching him.  He asked her once why she always had to have her hands on his bare skin every moment nobody was looking.  She said it was because he felt more real, she had a better connection to his very life, feeling his warmth, breathing, pulse, anything that reassured her of his current status of healthy and alive.  It was, also, a way she reminded herself that he really was hers.  The only other time anyone got to touch these parts of him was in an emergency when she wasn't around to do it herself.  They never got to feel him relaxed, or turned on, or sad.  She got all of those things.  No one else even got to see any of his skin beyond his fingers and upper portion of his face.  
  
He breathed in deeply, humming in delight as she moved her fingers higher to play with his chest.  Soon, her hand was moving lower again, slowly unbuckling his pants.  For some reason, she liked to touch his hips and thighs, too.  She'd run her hands over his whole body if he let her.  She didn't bother playing much more once she got his pants open, though.  No, she went straight for certain places that would give him a hard on fast.  
  
Kakashi gasped and grabbed her hand tightly.  
  
"What's wrong?" she frowned.  He'd never done this before.  
  
"You surprised me," he nearly giggled.  "I thought you were going to take your time."  
  
"You didn't touch me last night," she reminded.  "You've got some making up to do."  
  
"Then let me be the one to do the making up." he told her, voice dropped low.  Kakashi brought her hand back up to his lips to kiss her knuckles.  He sat up and chucked his shirt across the room.  He watched her chest rise and fall deeper, faster.  She always got a little hot under the collar the moment he took off even his outer shirt.  Yamato could do the same thing, but she wouldn't have the same reaction.  When they sparred on Mondays, she hid it under the guise of being worn out from the effort of battling someone like Naruto.  
  
Kakashi knew differently.  Sasuke had battled her shirtless on purpose two years ago, trying to get a rise out of her.  She had froze up out of shock.  The first time she had watched Kakashi undress, she had relaxed and her eyes drank him in, every single scar.  Her favorite view, he learned, was of his back, especially over his shoulder.  She loved to watch his muscles work as he slid his dick in and out of her body.  
  
So, right now, he would let her see his back as he pushed up her shirt and bra to suck on a tender nipple.  He used his tongue and lips despite his urge to put some teeth into it, leaning carefully so as not to put any weight on her belly.  He couldn't go as fast or as hard on her as he used to, for fear of hurting the baby, but he wouldn't need to.  She was so much more sensitive these days.  Already, a blush had worked its way across her chest and throat, her breathing coming quicker.  Sakura ran her fingers through his hair, gripping and pulling him back up to look her in the face.  
  
Kakashi wasn't sure what he saw there.  Lust, of course, but fear, too, and... something else.  "What's wrong?"  
  
She was starting to cry.  "I don't want to loose you."  
  
"You're not going to loose me any day soon," he assured, reaching up to wipe away her tears.  
  
She looked away, up towards the ceiling fan as it spun slowly, wobbling just a little every few rotations.  He knew her silence was not acceptance, but could only think of one way to bring her mind back to the moment.  Caressing her ribcage, he pushed his hands under her body to unlatch her bra.  Sakura let him lift her up to remove her shirt and bra, kissing at her throat the instant the opportunity presented itself.  She was humming happily again as their skin met once more.  
  
The world became a blurr of touching and being touched, shedding the rest of their clothes.  Kakashi pulled her hips to the edge of the bed.  This was the one reason Sakura was so very happy to have such a tall standing bed.  It was at the perfect height for him to stand beside it and slide his dick into her core without putting any of his weight on her.  While she really liked feeling his body sliding against hers with each thrust, that just wasn't a good idea anymore.  Instead, he could reach forward to caress her body, lean over to kiss the underside of her jaw, all without breaking contact between their sexes.  
  
He entered her slowly.  Before the baby, she could take his full length right away.  Now it took a little time to get there.  He didn't like the change.  Sinking balls deep was one of the greatest pleasures he took from her.  There was no closer feeling as far as he knew.  Sometimes he would just stay still deep inside and play with her breasts and her clit until she came before pounding fast and hard into his own orgasam.  Not now.  Now he would be smoth, steady, slowly pushing deeper until she really could take him all the way.  
  
He couldn't enjoy the feeling long enough to get off.  She got off far too quickly and was too sensitive to allow him to stay inside.  He slipped out and allowed her to pull him onto the bed beside her.  Before he could say or do anything else, she would have the head of his dick in her mouth, tonguing the very tip and running her fingernails up and down the shaft.  She could only take just less than half of him into her mouth, so she took to running her lips and tongue along the underside while using one hand to massage the head of his dick, and the other to play at the bit of skin between his balls and his ass.  The moment she felt him start to throb, she'd back off and stroke his full length fast and hard until he came all over both of them, body arching and spasiming until he was spent.  She pulled herself up against him, laying on her side and wrapping a leg over his waist, kissing at his shoulder.  
  
Doing things this way always had her aroused again before he was ready, so he reached down to play with her clit again, keeping his eyes locked on hers.  Whether or not he was ready, it didn't matter.  He'd have no time to catch up to her, since she was moaning and squirting into his palm just seconds after he re-initiated contact.  
  
"We need to shower," he whispered after she came back down from her second high.  "I doubt anybody will think plans for the afternoon have changed just because we had a fight."  
  
"I thought of it as an arguement, not a fight," she shrugged.  "I'd rather keep on having civil arguements like that than fight.  Wouldn't you?"  
  
"Very much," he kissed her forehead again.  "Now... once my legs quit shaking...  Oh shit!"  
  
Sakura heard it, too.  Her living room window had slid open.  People were entering.  Loudly announcing their arrival was Naruto talking about how Sai had gotten in a good hit on Gaara.  It seemed the Sand Sibblings had decided to join in, today.  If it wasn't for Gaara's defenses, he would have been dead.  If Sai had seen the switch between sand and flesh, he'd have won the match.

Rolling her eyes, Sakura reached inside the top drawer of the nightstand and pulled out the wet wipes she kept there for just such a potential occasion.  She and Kakashi cleaned each other up and pulled fresh clothes from the closet.  Kakashi having extra clothing there was nothing out of the ordinary to anyone.  All of her team mates, except for Sasuke, had at least three extra sets in her closet or dresser in case they were injured and couldn't make it to the hospital (or refused to).  Naruto didn't have that problem, but he did sleep over when he was too exhausted to make it home.  Sakura lived more towards the center of Konoha these days, and he lived on the outskirts at the far end.  
  
Sakura grabbed Kakashi before he could pull up his mask, giving him a slow, gentle kiss.  "I love you.  I know I should say it more.  So, just to let you know, I do love you.  You mean the world to me."  
  
Not knowing how to respond, Kakashi chose instead to kiss her across her nose, at each corner of her mouth, and again on her lips, pulling her body flush against his for a long hug.  Sighing into her hair, he backed off and pulled up his mask.  He flung open the door just as Naruto was about to knock, causing the younger man to trip and tumble inside.  Kakashi just stepped to the side and let him fall on his face.  
  
"Damn, it smells like sex in here," Naruto commented loudly, wrinkling his nose.

"And here I wondered if you even knew what that smelled like," Kakashi poked fun at him, then walked on out of the room.  
  
"Did you two just...?" Naruto looked up to Sakura.  
  
"Yeah, we did," she scowled at him.  "You interrupted round two before we could start."  
  
"Damn.  Sorry." he blushed, looking through the door down the hall.  "Um... so, just to let you in on a secret...  That doctor appointment Hinata missed...  I talked with her about it."  
  
"Okay," Sakura looked at him with confusion.  She wasn't sure where this was going.  
  
"Hinata said it was alright if you knew."  
  
"If I knew what?"  
  
"She's pregnant, too.  About five weeks."  Naruto was blushing very hard.  "We don't really know how to break it to her family.  I think they'll go back to hating me because we're not married yet."  
  
"Naruto, you're asking the wrong person about that," Sakura smiled down at him.  "At least you two can be seen together that way.  That's something.  And... congratulations.  When you're ready to tell everyone, let me know so I can be there.  I'll beat anybody up that tries to speak badly about either of you for this."  
  
"Thanks," he grinned up at her.  "Um...  is it normal to be this giddy?"  
  
"Yes," she reached out a hand to pat his shoulder.  "That's how good people feel about becoming parents.  It means you're on the right track."


	2. Chapter 2

Someone was pushing the buzzer quite a lot.  The sound didn't seem to phase Sakura, and Kakashi really didn't want to move from his spot in the chair.  Sakura was sprawled over his chest, smiling in her dreams.  Dawn was barely breaking.  
  
So were buildings from the sound outside.  
  
That noise startled Sakura wide awake.  They were both on their feet right away, running to look out the window.  Gaara, Naruto, and Sasuke could already be seen on a near-by rooftop side by side.  
  
The buzzer rang more urgently.  
  
Sakura ran to the door and pressed the talk button, "I'll be out in a second!  Go!"  
  
"Where is the Hokage?" the voice on the other end demanded.  "Do you know where he is?"  
  
"He's comming!  Shut up!" she yelled, turning around to find Kakashi raiding her chest/coffee table for weapons.  He was almost always dressed for battle despite the fact that he didn't need to be anymore.  What he didn't keep these days was his usual amount of arms.  Everyone on the team had convenient stashes in their own homes readily available to the rest of the team.  They had all encoded each stash to open only to the chakra signature of a team member.  Sakura's would, also, open to other close friends.  
  
"Kakashi, don't wait for me," She leaned in and kissed the upper portion of his cheek, the one bare spot of flesh she could reach easily right now.  "I'll be right behind you."  
  
"No you won't!" he grabbed her wrist before she could get to the bedroom.  "You go somewhere safe.  Get the rest of the people out of the building, and run."  
  
"I'm not going to just-"  
  
"Yes, you will!  There will be wounded civillians that will need your help.  Go to them first.  Come out only when the all clear is given."  
  
"No!"  
  
"Sakura, we don't have time for this!" he shook her shoulders.  "Just get your shoes and go!"  
  
"I can help."  
  
"You can get yourself or our child killed.  You can be less of a distraction if I know you're safe."  
  
She had no time to respond.  There was a loud noise, then a quiet hiss.  Gravity seemed to fail for a moment, and she watched and felt Kakashi pull her to him as the world turned upside down all around.  Dust filled the air, stinging her eyes, filling her nose, and choking her lungs.  Her back made contact with something sharp, several splinters piercing here and there against her back and legs.  The world went completely still and quiet.  
  
The first thing Sakura knew as she came back to consciousness was his voice.  He was saying her name over and over, calling her.  
  
"I'm here..." Sakura managed to breathe out.  Her chest felt very constricted between the hard wood beneath her back, and the warm, wet thing pressing to her front.  The smell of blood filled the air.  She knew some of it had to be hers.  
  
She went through the motions of checking herself over.  Head was aching, neck strained backwards uncomfortably.  Shoulders and arms were pinned down, but not broken.  Torso and abdomen were all right except for the splinters, one of which was dangerously close to puncturing a lung, but had missed everything else.  Hips, legs, feet, all pinned, but otherwise fine.  
  
Next came her baby.  The girl had some bruising, so Sakura focused on healing that before herself.  With pure chakra alone, she forced the splinter from her body and closed up the wound.  The light splinters could be pulled out later.  Kakashi was more important.  
  
He was going into a seizure.  That warm, wet thing pressed against her was him, and he was convulsing.  
  
She could heal anything on herself without trying, but, for others, she did her best when touching them with her hands.  Manipulating her chakra to the right places worked better with skin to skin contact, and her hands directed it much better than any other part.  She couldn't touch him.  All she could do was extend her chakra to envelop his body and try her hardest to sort out the problem.  
  
The convulsions stopped, and he seemed to be coming around again.  
  
Sakura lifted her head to look at him.  The first thing that struck her was how wet his mask was.  Blood was probably coming from his mouth.  She could sense trauma to his lungs.  She pushed more chakra there.  
  
"Kakashi, you have to work out a way to take off your mask," she told him.  "You shouldn't be breathing that back in."  
  
"Right," he rasped, working his face against a piece of wood to drop the mask from his nose and mouth.  
  
His body was wrapped around hers.  From the angle of his right arm, Sakura guessed that the splinter that had nearly taken her left lung was pushed through his arm.  She coulnd't really see much more of him, and her chakra stopped giving information past his fourth lumbar vertibra.  That wasn't good.  That meant something had severed his spinal chord at that point.  
  
As he worked at moving the mask off, she saw what caused the convultions.  How he didn't notice the chunks of mirror in the back right part of his head, she didn't know.  What she did know, was, if her chakra were to falter before someone rescued them, he would die quickly.  
  
"Kakashi..."  
  
He stopped looking around and met her gaze.  
  
"Come on, don't look all frightened now," he smirked at her, coughing up another mouthful of blood.  "Break us out of here already."  
  
"No," she fought back the tears.  "If I stop what I'm doing to break us out of here... you... you..."  
  
"So we sit tight," he told her calmly, closing his eyes to focus on where her chakra was most condensed.  "We sit tight and wait for it to end.  Someone will find us."  
  
Silence fell between them as Kakashi listened for whatever sounds might make it through the rubble, sounds that might mean a rescue party was near by.  All her heard was the sounds of battle.  
  
"When we get out of this," he told her, "I'm retiring early.  We're moving outside of Konoha."  
  
"Agreed," she laughed mirthlessly.  
  
"I'll brush your hair every day."  
  
Sakura felt his chakra starting to slip away even more, forcing her to push more of her own to him.  Any more and she would have to release the Regeration Seal.  She wasn't sure if it had really been that long already, or if he was just so low on life force that he couldn't produce enough of his own anymore.  
  
"I'll rub your feet every evening."  
  
His voice was growing softer, quieter.  
  
"We can sit and watch the sunrise every morning.  That is, if we're not still to tired from having sex all night."  
  
"What will you do with our daughter?" Sakura questioned.  His breathing was getting labored again.  
  
"I'm going to... teach her how... to summon my pack.  She'll never... be alone...  I'm going to learn how to... change diapers first, right?"  
  
"Right," Sakura nodded.  "Kakashi, I'm going to use the Regeneration Seal on you now.  This will hurt at first."  
  
"Don't!" his voice grew a little stronger.  "You may need that when we get out of here...  When they get you out..."  
  
"You promised me a lot of things," she reminded, trying to stabilize her voice at the very least.  
  
If he could have shrugged, he would have.  "I lied.  I'm sorry, Sakura."  
  
She felt the life draining from him more and more.  Sakura focused her efforts on his heart, lungs, and brain.  Well, she focsed on what she could of his brain.  "Don't you leave me!  Don't you fucking leave me!"  
  
The start of a smile crept over his face, then paused.  
  
Blood poured like a fountain from his nose, pulsing, then gushing out.


	3. Chapter 3

Sakura knew her only way out right at the moment was to go through Kakashi's body.  If she wanted to get herself out of this, all that remained of him would be gone too quickly for her liking.  Hell, she didn't give a damn how much of his blood was on her.  She wanted him to still be talking, breathing even.  But, that wasn't going to happen now.  Between the moment she started activating the seal on her forehead and the moment the energy would have reached him, he had died.  
  
Right now, all she could do was scream her lungs out.  
  
Could anybody even hear her?  Would anybody even be coming to save them at any point?  Or, would they sign everyone off as dead who had been in the building when it fell?  Would anybody know that there were at least two living souls left?  
  
Sakura screamed and yelled, trying hard to get attention.  She paused for a few seconds, then yelled again.  
  
That's when the sand caressed her wrists.  It was everywhere around her now, creating a shell that then separated her from Kakashi.  She started to fight it.  How dare Gaara block her view of her husband's last smile?  But the sand grew a hand and wiped a thumb against her tear and blood soaked face before patting her shoulder.  He knew, at the very least, that his presence like this was causing her distress.  She just wished he understood why.  
  
Minutes passed, but they felt like hours.  
  
A muffled male voice rang out, "I've got two people here.  Hey, Gaara, I thought you said you got everybody!  This one isn't covered!"  
  
"I only covered the live ones," a farther voice called back.  
  
"Oh, fuck!" the first voice had a crack in it.  "It's Kakashi-sensei!"  
  
The sand around Sakura moved away carefully.  Bright morning light flooded her eys.  If it weren't for the sunlight, she would have seen Kakashi's body being carried away by the sand that had been protecting her.  She would have seen the shocked and worried faces of several of Naruto's clones as they started working again to free her.  
  
A more calloused pair of hands cradled Sakura as she was lifted from the debris and carried away, quickly, to the hospital.  Sakura burried her face into the man's chest and took a deep breath.  She had hoped for anyone's scent but his.  
  
Sasuke was rushing her to help on his own.  He should have known she wouldn't need it.  
  
"Put me down," she commanded.  
  
"You are covered in blood," he countered.  
  
"It's not mine."  
  
Sasuke skidded to a stop, but he did not let her out of his arms.  "You don't need to be hovered over by that many people right now."  
  
"I want to go back to Kakashi."  
  
Sasuke frowned, searching for a response.  "He isn't able to speak with you right now."  
  
"I know," she put her face back into his chest, trying to hide the fresh set of tears.  "I don't care.  His mask is down.  I need to make sure to put it back up before people gather around to gawk.  It's bad enough he's...  But I don't want them comming just to finally see his face."  
  
"I already took care of that," he assured.  
  
"Take me back home, Sasuke...  Just take me to him."  
  
"Sakura, you really shouldn't..."  
  
"Then take me to the person responsible!" she snarled, shoving her way out of his arms.  "I'll make them suffer!  I'll kill them with my own, bare hands!"  
  
This personality flip from scared and sad to angy and headstrong wasn't new to him.  From her, perhaps, but he was very aware of the dangers such flips meant.  She might just decide to go through him to get to the perpitrator.  
  
"He wasn't supposed to die like that!  He was supposed to die fighting or old in his bed!  Not like this!"  
  
Lightning fast, Sasuke shot out a hand to grab her by the chin, forcing her to look into his activated Sharingan.  Sakura slumped down, and he almost didn't catch her.  Lump in throat, Sasuke hoisted her back up and changed directions.  Instead of the hospital, he headed for the main house of the Yamanaka clan.  
  
Ino didn't live there, but her mother did.  Ino's mother and Mebuki, Sakura's mother, were sisters.  Since he didn't know where the Haruno's lived, he would go to the next best place for Sakura.  Right now, she needed to know that she still had family that loved her.  
  
The way she snapped from grief to anger and vengance put a spear in Sasuke's heart.  She had jumped from one to the other far too quickly for his liking.  It was even faster than when he had made the decision as a child.  He hoped that meant she was just going through normal stages of grief.  He hoped she would be okay again someday soon, without destroying their only known suspect in the process.  
  
"Hey!" someone was already running out the door to meet him.  "What the hell?  Oh, no, tell me she's still alive!"  
  
From the woman's angle, there was no way to tell if Sakura was breathing or not, so Sasuke nodded to her.  "It's not her blood.  Well, most of it isn't."  
  
"Wake her up and get her to the bathroom," the unnamed woman ordered him.  "I'm calling her family.  Can you help me get her cleaned up?"  
  
"I'll do it myself, if you don't mind," Sasuke replied, trying to work out where the bathroom was.  
  
"Not a good idea," the woman shook her head.  "I've seen her knock Uzumaki-san around just for looking at her the wrong way.  You should wait for her mother to get here and take care of her."  
  
Yeah, that was true.  Sakura wouldn't think twice about trying to escape from him again.  If it was her mother here, though, she'd probably calm down.  "I think I'll wait until then to wake her back up.  She was ready for a fight when I put her to sleep."  
  
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-  
  
Sakura woke up to the feeling of a warm bath and vanilla and lavender in the air.  Still, there was the undertone of blood and dust.  Her nose was stopped up, but the smells still made it though.  Not realizing she wasn't alone, Sakura reached out for the toilet paper she kept on the back of the toilet, pulled off a few sheets, and blew her nose into it hard.  Chunks of semi-dried crud came out.  Opening her eyes, she saw that there was, indeed, a great deal of blood clogging up her nose.  Why was that there?  Who put her in the bath?  
  
Then the memories hit her and she realized whose blood she had just shot out of her nose.  
  
Sakura balled up her fist around the tissues as the tears started to fall yet again.  She grit her teeth, trying not to start screaming.  It wouldn't do any good to let her host know she wasn't in control right now.  
  
"Let me take that, dear," a very familliar voice spoke gently.  
  
Sakura opened her eyes again to the sight of her mother dipping a wash rag into the muddy colored water with one hand, and holding a small trash bin out with the other.  She wasn't sure she was willing to let the bloody tissue go.  
  
"Baby, I can get you a bag for that if you really want to keep it.  Just leave it on the toilet."  
  
Yes, she did want to keep it.  Kakashi's body was going to be destroyed by ANBU soon.  This would be all that would be left.  She needed to keep it, secret, and safe, a physical part of him to cling to despite the fact that it was just in her nose a moment ago.  It wasn't like she'd get to keep any of his hair from his place or hers.  The ANBU "cleaners" would take even that.  She hoped her mother didn't know the level of treason she would be committing by keeping the bloody paper.  
  
Sakura set the tissues on the toilet.  
  
"Alright.  Let's get this water drained.  Then you can stand up and finish rinsing out in the shower.  Okay?"  
  
Still, she didn't speak, just waited for the muddy water to drain out before being ushered into standing.  She just stood there and let her mother turn on the shower, remove the head, and start rinsing her off.  The world was a fog even as Mebuki patted her dry with a large towel, dressed her in an old bath robe, and lead her into the kitchen.  
  
Her father and Sasuke sat at the table, each with a glass half filled with a brown colored liquor.  Sakura didn't think at all as she reached across the table and stole a swallow from her father's glass.  Sasuke was quick to yank the liquid away from her, quicker than Mebuki who proceeded to slap her hand.  Her father just stayed quiet, looking down at his own drink.  He looked ashamed of drinking so early in the day, despite the circumstances.  Hell, birds were singing loudly outside in the sunshine.  It just wasn't right.  
  
"I'll go take care of that item for you," Mebuki told her daughter.  "It'll be kept safe.  You need to try to eat.  All of you."  
  
It was then that Sakura saw the plate of rice and fried eggplant that sat before each of them, a fourth at Mebuki's place.  She felt her face contort into rage as her fingers gripped the table edge, white knuckled.  Sasuke caught on to what was about to happen in time to reach out a hand and shove her away from the table.  It wouldn't be good of her to toss the table and its contents onto her father right now.  She would break more than the table, he knew.  
  
"I'll find you something else," he murmured into her ear, taking all four untouched plates away.  He made himself at home, putting everything back into the serving dish, shoving it into the fridge, and then bringing out a container filled with a mixture of dango and umeboshi, two things Sakura loved, but Kakashi disliked.  "Haruno-san, I think this would be better for your daughter at the moment."  
  
"They were for her anyway," Kizashi replied, leanng back in his chair.  "Mebuki made them last night.  We were going to bring them over this afternoon."  
  
"I'll pass," Sakura stood up and walked to the door.  
  
"Where are you going?" Sasuke caught up to her just as she crossed the threshold.  
  
"Home."  
  
"Sakura," he reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, "it's gone."  
  
"My other home isn't."  
  
"Kakashi's?"  
  
She nodded, looking away from him and down the street.  "It is still there, right?"  
  
"Yeah, it is," Sasuke assured.  "If you have some clothes there, I can go get them.  You can change here before we go back there together."  
  
"I don't want you there.  I want Kakashi."  
  
"You shouldn't be alone right now."  
  
"I want Kakashi."  Her voice finally grew a little stronger.  
  
"That's not possible."  
  
Sakura let out a yell and threw up her hands before focusing on the man before her.  Once again, Sasuke knew she was going to attack.  He flared up his chakra as a reminder that he was strong enough to diffuse anything she threw at him.  He could even hurt her if he wanted.  She didn't care and let the fist fly anyway.  He dodged to the side, but kept her exit blocked.  
  
She threw a few more blows, each with less venom than the one before.  With her emotions running from angry, to sad, to frightened, she tired out way, way faster.  Eventually, she just slumped down, and Sasuke caught her, half carrying her back inside and into the kitchen chair again.  
  
He placed the mixed sweets before her and commanded, "Eat.  I will get you some clothes.  You're not going anywhere until tomorrow."  
  
Sakura didn't lift a finger to feed herself.  
  
"Have it your way," he sighed, created a lightning clone which caused Sakura to flinch.  Once again, someone with good intentions reminded her of Kakashi a little too much.  With a slight grimmace, the clone took off down the road.  Sasuke had sent it for two purposes.  First was to see what could already be gathered from Sakura's crumbled dwelling.  Second was to find Kakashi's place and see if there was enough food and other supplies for Sakura to stay there.  If there wasn't, he would get her some.  She would need alone time just as much as time with friends and family to get through this.  Sasuke fully intended on being her guard when she wanted time alone.  He was, however, going to invade enough to make her eat and wash up when needed.  
  
Right now, he didn't like that she was missing a meal.  Still, she had every right to be lethargic.  
  
"Ah, Mebuki, please try to get Sakura to eat," Kizashi brightened up a tad when his wife re-entered the kitchen.  "Keep an eye on her.  I need to speak with Sasuke-san alone for a moment."  
  
"You two just had plenty of time alone," Mebuki reminded, but Kizashi had already stood and guided Sasuke outside to the back garden.  
  
Kizashi stood near a small plot of snapdragons before he spoke.  "Sakura's first pregnancy was a misscarriage.  Somehow, she managed to get hold of the remains, every bit of them, and put them in the ground right here."  
  
Sasuke didn't have to guess why the man was telling him this.  He froze up completely.  It seemed, she had confessed to her father about that, at least in order to give the would-be child a beautiful burrial place.  Sasuke rather liked the flowers, and he appreciated the stone statue of a butterfly in the middle of them.  Its wings were bright pink with purple and green markings, and its body was a royal blue.  Nothing subtle about the meaning of that, he thought.  
  
"What I don't understand, is why she changed her mind about you so quickly.  I see now that she really did love him, though."  
  
"She still does," Sasuke corrected.  "She will never stop loving him."  
  
"That is true," Kizashi nodded.  "What I really want to say is...  You know how she can be.  Since you were the only other one that I know of, I'm worried she'll become more interested in you again, once she finally comes to terms with today.  If you don't want that, leave this afternoon.  Don't come back until after the baby is born."  
  
"What if I don't mind?"  
  
"What if she decides to throw you away again?"  
 "That child deserves a father figure.  Whether it be me or someone else, I'm going to be sure it's someone deserving of Sakura.  And... if it inherrits its father's chakra type, someone's got to be around to teach it Kakashi's different techniques."  
  
"I thought you only learned one from him?"  
  
"I branched it out, and learned more by watching even after he lost the Sharingan."  
  
"Very well," Kizashi held out a hand.  "I don't want her using you as a replacement for him, though.  Whatever relationship you end up having with my daughter, make sure it isn't built on misplaced feelings.  Make sure."  
  
Sasuke took his hand, accepting the deal.  "I only mean to be her friend."  
  



End file.
